harrison, i was a tactical flying squadron commander at barksdale in the late '80s and we had about 155 people in our unit and we had an audit one time and the audit was about travel. 155 people in the military, the air crew members travel a lot. they've said okay, here's how much money was spent and we want you to account for it and the paperwork is monumental. we fill out a form travel voucher and when it comes back that reconciles it. there's no requirement for anybody to keep these things. we didn't keep them in our squadron. they're kept at some god forsaken vault probably somewhere in washington, d.c. yet i was supposed to come up with the answer where did all of this money go? i just happened to be one of those people that keeps those things and i brought out this stack of things and handed them to this audit and after about two days he came back and says, we can't do this. now this is the auditor, the individual sent to do the audit on a very small, 100, 150, a slice of the squadron, me, realized in three days what he was trying do was impossible. i cannot imagine how they could

caller: i was a tactical flying squadron commander here at barksdale air force base in the late 1980's. we had an audit one-time. the audit was about travel. 155 people in the military that are aircrew members travel a lot. they said here is how much money was spent. we want you to account for it. the paperwork is monumental. we fill out a travel voucher. when it comes back, that reconciles it. but there is no requirement for anybody to keep these things. we did not keep them in our squadron. somewere kept at godforsaken vault in washington. yet i was supposed to come up with the answer of where did all the money go. i happened to be one of those people that keeps those things so i brought out the stack of things and handed them to the auditor. after about two days, he came back and said we can't do this. this is the auditor, individual sent to do the audit on a small slice of the squadron, me, realized in three days what he was trying to do was impossible. so i cannot imagine how they ,ould apply these techniques these auditing techniques, it was very enlightening for me because i di

you'll see them at minot in north dakota, at barksdale, whiteman operating the bomber missions. you'll see hem at kings bay and bangor and georgia and the state of washington, operating our nuclear submarines. you'll see them at warren, malmstrom, minot, peterson, buckley, vandenberg, patrick, schriever. we're all over the world. north, south, east, west, up and down. 162,000 people. but you got to realize when it comes right down to it, it's really about the one and it could be the one sailor who has spent 17 years of his life under the water. doing a strategic deterrent mission. that reminds me to respect those people at all times and also realize i made the right decision when it came to service. it's about the soldiers sitting in the middle of alaska in all weather sitting on top of the ground-based intercepters making sure they can combat. it's also about the maintainers at minot, the pilots, that operate the bombers. it's about the missileers, maintainers that work in the missile fields. i was at malmstrom about six months ago. great falls, montana. they're spread all over

yeah, barksdale farms. right on the side of the highway. every presidential candidate, if they want to win the white house, they stop here and they order a giant pile of strawberry shortcakes, and eat them. [laughter] ben: and i had gone around behind the counter -- when a presidential campaign lands somewhere and you're not expecting it, it can be a shocking experience. buses pull up, secret service piles out. journalists pile out. aides pile out. ben piles out. all these people come out and land on you and it's chaos. depending on the temperament of the candidates, is he or she unpredictable, are they jovial, are they fearless, all of that can color the process. i ran around behind the counter and i noticed the screen above senator mccain's head was obscuring him. i thought it was going to be a cool picture. it didn't work. i was a little disappointed. just as i was about to run back around the counter to get him greeting people, he just leans down and cops his head through the window. much to my surprise. and it ended up making a fun pic

caller: i was a tactical flying squadron commander here at barksdale air force base in the late 1980'had an audit one-time. the audit was about travel. 155 people in the military that are aircrew members travel a lot. they said here is how much money was spent. we want you to account for it. the paperwork is monumental. we fill out a travel voucher. when it comes back, that reconciles it. but there is no requirement for anybody to keep these things. we did not keep them in our squadron. somewere kept at godforsaken vault in washington. yet i was supposed to come up with the answer of where did all the money go. i happened to be one of those people that keeps those things so i brought out the stack of things and handed them to the auditor. after about two days, he came back and said we can't do this. this is the auditor, individual sent to do the audit on a small slice of the squadron, me, realized in three days what he was trying to do was impossible. so i cannot imagine how they ,ould apply these techniques these auditing techniques, it was very enlightening for me because i did not